Discoveries
by DearOTraveler
Summary: Finding yourself is hard enough, but learning why you were meant to be that individual is even harder.


Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The characters that make up the Disney Pixar movie series, Planes, do not belong to me; nor does anything that you would recognize. Instead, nearly everything, aside from the drabbles, belongs to the animators and writers over at the studios.

Summary: Finding yourself is hard enough, but learning why you were meant to be that individual is even harder.

Warning: Subtle Dusty x Dipper shipping. Among the pairings will be Skipper x Dusty and Blade Ranger x Dusty as a father x son; and maybe a dusting of Dusty x Ishani. Lots of fluff, romance, and heart wrenching stuff too. **THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR PLANES I AND PLANES II!****  
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**A Quick A/N: Just in case some of you lovely readers did not know, the warnings are intended for the entire piece of work. Unless stated otherwise, the warning that is put at the beginning of each chapter is meant towards the entirety of the work. Let me now apologize for the poorly written drabbles; I'm a little rusty..**

Enjoy!

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1. Abandon

For some, leaving the past where it was supposed to be - in the past - was a task nothing short of difficult; but for Dusty it was as easy as dropping fertilizer on a field of growing crops.

2. Allow

As he watched the fertilizer-smelling form of the orange plane vanish back towards the racer's tents, a pair of aquamarine-colored eyes narrowed to a mere slit. Mouth turning down in an annoyed frown, Ripslinger made a vow - he would _not_ let that lousy farmer win, _no matter the cost._

3. Anticipation

Form sagging at the words that were rapidly falling from his many grounded friends, Dusty knew right then that his excitement for the aerodynamic race was gone. He no longer felt excited, no; rather, he felt _scared._

4. Armor

It was at the same moment that the green-painted trio left when Skipper came to a conclusion: after many years of being grounded, it was time to put on the unpredictable cloak of the sky.

5. Ash

Like the Phoenix, the grey F4U Corsair's passion for flying was renewed greatly as he rose from the pain and memories of long ago battles and loss.

6. Band

It was not a physical ailment that left the wise war plane grounded and longing for the heights that came with flying, instead it was due to a years-old memory of mistake and loss.

7. Bail

His love for racing held two major meanings: one being that he wanted to prove to the world and its inhabitants that he was more than just a crop duster; and the second being that it was release from the problems.

8. Bargain

Being a firefighter, regardless of the position, was a risky job. There were no bargains with nature and the dangers that it brought upon. It complies with life and death simultaneously; taking and giving what it deems fit.

9. Beauty

To Leadbottom, he saw the most beauty in the Vitaminamulch and its smell as it was poured upon the acres-long fields every morning. To him, nothing was as breathtaking as that.

10. Beckon

The inviting camera flashes and cheers of the audience were his greatest weakness.

11. Bend

To the small crew's immense displeasure, there was not a single spot on the wounded rookie's fuselage that was not bent or altered in shape. His long wings were bent and rippled, showing creases where flatness should have been and holes that were once-movable slates. Along with his bent wings and stabilizers, the compartment that sheltered his large engine from the outside weather was badly dented inwards and the front control panels were littered with cracks that went from end to end. Among the racer's badly crippled body was smoke and twigs from the burnt, fallen trees that outlined the surrounding mountains. In short, the plane's crash left not a single thing of the young flier untouched.

That is, everything but his spirit; and it was proven true when the morning of the fifth day rolled upon them and the new firefighter's eyes slowly opened.

12. Bind

"To be honest," the mechanic mumbled to herself while pushing aside an old, although recently polished, toolbox. "I should've seen this coming from a mile away." The purple forklift let a soft smile grace her face as the modulated voice of a familiar aircraft flooded from the large runway outside.

Like the others, Dottie should have know that, no matter what, Dusty would rise above his model.

13. Blue

Ever since his birth, the parents of Dusty Cropper knew that the little airplane belonged to a place that did not consist of routine farming, instead somewhere far, far, far above the clouds and in touch with a baby blue sky.

14. Books

Skipper always thought that those racing textbooks were a bunch of malarkey.

15. Boundaries

Throwing the annoying blare of the alarm and the frenzied flashing of the red warning light out of his mind, Dusty pushed down harder on the accelerator and continued to fly parallel up the large waterfall. The painful grinding of the gears in his engine was quickly drowned out by the roar of the falls, along with the dangers of red lining.

Sometimes lines had to be crossed, no matter the consequences, when it came to saving a life.

16. Break

Despite being bent, dented, and burned, Dusty knew that he would be "better than new", as Maru often put it.

17. Burn

Shaking his cargo head at the two different - both in language origin and build - airplanes, Dusty let an amused smile appear. It was clear, to anyone, that their love for one another burned hotter than a thousand suns.

18. Buttons

It was in a matter of seconds that his display went from eerily silent to blaring at ridiculous volumes. Lights flashed in a frenzied pace, and in all different colors; from red to yellow. His several tachometers threw their individual dials back and forth, scattering information all around and confusing him. However, there was one thing that he knew; the flashing lights and blaring alarms could only mean one thing! It was his-

Then his world went black, and the noise of both the fire and the buttons shut off, transforming into a heavy, painful silence.

19. Calm

Even though they were both trapped inside a mine - which had long since been shutdown - and surrounded by a fire that was quickly, and rather easily, consuming the area around them, Blade Ranger remained calm and collected. Aside from the physical pain as the incredibly hot flames licked and melted his blood-red and silver-colored outer metal, he kept his cool; merely wincing.

He did not cry out in pain because, now, he had something else to keep safe.

20. Cage

Dusty looked upon the large farmland with a saddened frown. While his boss, Leadbottom, saw acres upon acres of strongly sprouting corn stalks, the young duster saw something entirely different: confinement; a prison to his dreams.

21. Captain

For years, Skipper kicked and berated himself; ever scolding, day in and day out, of his mistake. He no longer saw himself as a prideful and caring captain, instead, he nothing short of a coward. For, a captain always sacrificed himself for his crew.

_'And yet,' _the grey-blue-painted war plane sighed as his gaze fell upon a sharp crescent moon. _'I'm still here.'_

22. Cards

Ignoring the warnings, jabs, and insults that were being thrown at him, the tangerine-orange crop duster continued, determined, towards the starting line. He did not need the vehicles around him to notify him of the dangers that came with racing; he already knew what he was gambling with.

23. Catch

Windlifter never thought that he would ever have to use his pre-equipped cargo net; especially not on a friend.

24. Challenge

At just he sight of the double, rising columns of steam from underneath the young plane's engine lid alone, Dottie already knew which tools were required to repair the slight damage. She sighed, Dusty was nothing short of predictable when it came to visits at the repair shop: either a chat or a repair, obviously.

However, that did not mean that the crop duster was not a difficult hurdle to overcome.

25. Chances

His opportunity to prove that he was more than just a crop duster came not as a day of sunshine and a singing choir, no; rather, it approached him as a small, blue-grey forklift, claiming that he was now a racer in the one of the world's most famous races.


End file.
